Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary by volume of the Mississippi River. It is approximately 981 miles long and is located in the eastern United States.

What do you know about the Ohio River? Explore the Quick US Geography Rivers and Streams Quiz.  "Check Your Answers" at the end of the page.

1. The Ohio River is formed by the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at Point State Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. What is the elevation?

• 530 feet
• 630 feet
• 730 feet

2. The Ohio borders five states. What is NOT one of these states?

• New York
• Ohio
• Kentucky

3. The Ohio River is young from a geologic standpoint. The river formed on a piecemeal basis beginning between 2.5 and 3 million years ago. The earliest Ice Ages occurred at this time and dammed portions of north flowing rivers. The Teays River was the largest of these rivers, and the modern Ohio River flows within segments of the ancient Teays. The ancient rivers were rearranged or consumed by glaciers and lakes

• True or False?

4. René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, led an expedition of French traders who became the first Europeans to find the river in 1669.

• True or False?

5. Louisville, Kentucky was founded at the only major natural navigational barrier on the river. What is the barrier?

• Falls of the Ohio
• McAlpine Limestone Falls
• Kentucky Falls

6. In the early 19th century, pirates, settled at Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, waylaid travelers on their way down the river, killed them, stole their goods, and scuttled their boats. Who was a leader?

• Mike Fink
• Samuel Mason
• John Mosby

7. While the Ohio River is quite deep, it is a naturally shallow river that was artificially deepened by series of dams. The dams raise the water level and have turned the river largely in to a series of reservoirs, eliminating shallow stretches and allowing for commercial navigation. Near its origin at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, the Ohio remains fairly shallow, never rising above around 30 feet deep all the way past Cincinnati.

• True or False?

8. The 50 miles around Louisville represent the deepest area of the river allowing for much larger vessels to traverse the river. What is the depth?

• 122 feet
• 132 feet
• 142 feet

9. The charter for Virginia went not to the middle of the Ohio River but to its far shore, so that the entire river was included in the lands owned by Virginia. Therefore, where the river serves as a boundary between states, the entire river belongs to the states on the east and then the south, i.e., West Virginia and Kentucky, that were divided from Virginia.

• True or False?

10. What is the elevation of the Ohio River at its mouth at Cairo, Illinois?

• 90 feet
• 190 feet
• 290 feet

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